Part 2 of 2

"Sure," Mulder answered. "Rob and Laura Petrie. Except we pronounced it PETE-ree."

"Good," Scully replied.

"How long ago was that case?"

"Just a bit more than two years ago. So now we know
you've lost at least one year, but not more than, say, two-and-a-half. Do your remember anything after that?"

"That guy who lived next door to me. A writer named
Padgett. He was a killer who developed some sort of
weird obsession with you. But he also said that you
were already in love."

"I was," Scully murmured, running her fingertips
gently down Mulder's face. "I was just too dumb to
*realize* I was in love!"

"You're not dumb, Scully! You're the most brilliant
person I've ever met."

"Any other cases after Padgett?"

"I remember. . .well, I don't know if you could really call it a case. But I remember teaching you how to hit a baseball," Mulder said with a grin.

"I'm glad you remember that, because it's one of MY
all-time favorite memories," Scully replied with a
smile of her own.

"A giant mushroom tried to eat us," Mulder offered.

"Well, I don't know that I'd phrase it *exactly* like
that," Scully said softly. "But, yes, we did fall into a cavern where we encountered the digestive enzymes of a large fungal life form."

"That's what I said: a giant mushroom tried to eat us.

When we finally got out, we held hands in the
ambulance."

"I know," Scully said. "I can remember the paramedics
having to pry our hands apart when we got to the
hospital. They kept telling me to let go of your hand, but I was still disoriented. I was afraid if I let go, they might separate us. Do you remember anything after that?"

Mulder was a quiet for a moment. "Not clearly or in
great detail. If I had to give the exact moment when I was last able to remember things in lucid,
chronological order, it would probably be when we were holding hands in the ambulance. I've got some foggy memories of stuff that happened after that. . .some sort of Navajo artifact we found and being in a
hospital, but it's all jumbled up."

"You don't have any memories of us being...intimate?" Scully asked softly.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, Mulder?"

"I've got mental pictures of us being, um, intimate,
like you said. But I honestly couldn't say if they're
memories of actual events or just of particularly
vivid fantasies. I've had sexual fantasies of you for
years, Scully!"

"I know."

"What do you mean you. . .oh. I guess I've, er, shared some of them, huh?"

"Yeah. Although I've got the feeling that you've still got a few you're saving for a rainy day," she said with a smile.

"Scully, what you're saying, about us being married. I want to believe you."

"You've always wanted to believe, Mulder."

"Scully, is there anything in particular I say when I
want us to make love? Some special phrase or
something?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Because, if there was, I'd want to say right now." He was, actually, almost in agony. Scully was sitting on his lap and running her fingers up and down his upper arms and he was so hard, he hurt.

"Actually, when I first came downstairs, that's what I wanted. For you to come back upstairs with me."

"Is that why you called me Fox? Is that the only time
you use my first name?"

"Usually just then or when we're at some sort of
family gathering. But occasionally at other times,
too. You *allow* me to call you Fox now that we're
married, but I usually still call you Mulder. If it's
upsetting or confusing for you, I'll try to just stick with Mulder for the time being. Did you want to go upstairs or just stay down here on the couch?"

Mulder was torn. Part of him just wanted to take her
right there. But he didn't want their first time -
well, their first time as far as HE could remember,
anyway - to be a quickie on the couch. "Let's go
upstairs," he said huskily.

Scully stood up and tugged on his hand. They walked
quickly upstairs, holding hands. When they got to the
bedroom, she led him to the bed and pulled him him
down beside her, then climbed back into his lap.
Mulder twisted their bodies so they were lying down
and bent his head to kiss her.

This is heaven, he thought dreamily. This was no time
warp, no sympathetic kiss when one or the other of
them was in a hopsital bed. This was the deep, wet,
passionate kiss of aroused lovers.

"Mulder," she murmured when they finally came up for
air.

"What, Scully?"

"You said you didn't remember being married to me. Do
you even remember. . .being in love with me?"

Mulder stared down into her eyes. They were full of
love and yet begging for reassurance.

"Do you want to know what I don't remember, Scully?"

"What?" she said her voice barely a whisper.

"I don't remember ever NOT being in love with you!  I
think it started with something you said a long, long
time ago."

"What?"

"Hello."

"Mul-der!" she said, rolling her eyes but smiling,
too.

"I really don't know how long Scully. I'm being
serious now. There wasn't ever any one special moment
when I had a blinding revelation of "Hey, I'm in love
with Scully!" The first time I ever remember being
conscious of it was, I guess, back when they'd
separated us that first time. We met on a park bench
and I told you I was having murderous impulses and you replied that you'd take your chances because you were armed. And I remember thinking, "Is it any wonder I love her so much?" But it wasn't like I was surprised by the thought. I do remember thinking that, since we weren't in the same division anymore, we could become lovers and not get in trouble for it. I wanted to ask you to come home with me that night, but I was afraid to."

"Afraid I'd say no?"

"Nope. Afraid you'd say yes, but for the wrong
reasons. Because you felt sorry for me, wanted to make me feel less alone. I don't think you were in love with me then and the last thing I wanted from you was a pity fuck."

"So you were in love with me even then?"

"When you sat on that bench beside me, I loved you,"
he whispered, kissing her gently on the cheek. "When I nearly lost you and then had you miraculously returned to me, I loved you." This time the kiss was on her ear. "When I woke up in an Alaska hospital and found you sitting beside my bed giving me your thousand-watt smile, I loved you." A kiss on her neck. "When I fought my way back to life in New Mexico in order to return to you, I loved you." By now, he'd worked her way down to her collarbone. Mulder lifted his head to gaze into her eyes, "Every damned time you followed me to some podunk town to chase down some crazy lead, I loved you. Every time you laughed and every time you cried, I loved you."

"Mulder, you're going to make me cry!"

"It's okay, Scully. You can cry with me if you need
to. Or laugh with me. Or fight with me. Did I mention
how much I loved you everytime you fought with me?"

"No, but fighting isn't what I'm in the mood for right now!"

"You don't want to wrestle, Scully?"

She laughed, but the sound turned into a moan when he
lowered his mouth to her breasts. Even though she was
still clothed, the feeling was incredible.

"Um, Scully, can I. . .?" Mulder lifted the hem of her dress in his hand.

"Be my guest."

Mulder removed the dress in one smooth movement,
staring in delight at the amount of Scully's body
revealed to him. She tugged at his T-shirt and he
allowed her to pull it off, then gathered her close to him. He slid his hand along her back and deftly
unhooked her bra, then tossed it off.

Mulder lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her once
again, slowly and deeply. Then he began moving his
lips slowly down her body, brushing featherlight
kisses against the skin of her neck, collarbone and
upper chest. When he reached her breasts, he flicked
his tongue against first one nipple, then the other.
Scully moaned and arched against him.

"Scully?"

"Mmm?"

"I, um, I need to take off my jeans." That was the
understatement of the decade as far as Mulder was
concerned. If he didn't get his pants off in the next
few seconds, the damned things might explode from the
pressure inside them!

"Go ahead," she said, rolling on her back and folding
her hands under her head to look up at him.

Mulder stood up and reached for the snap. Scully was
smiling at him and staring directly at the bulge in
his jeans. He felt vaguely embarassed, but tried to
quell it. She's seen it before, he reminded himself.
It truly wasn't his intention to remove his briefs,
but somehow they got snagged, as well, so now he was
standing in front of Scully, totally naked and at full mast.

Then she did something that Mulder absolutely could
not believe. Rising to her knees, Scully crawled to
the edge of the bed and leaned over to kiss the tip of his arousal. It wasn't oral sex, not really. She
didn't lick him or suck him. Just brushed him gently
with her lips. And it was so damned erotic he nearly
came right there.

With a growl, Mulder pushed her back onto the bed.
Scully spread her legs eagerly so he could kneel
between them. He kissed her again, plunging his tongue so deeply into her mouth he could practically taste her tonsils. Then he rolled to one side and slid her panties off.

Mulder rolled again, onto his back this time and
pulled her atop him. "I want you on top."

"You usually do."

Scully straddled him and guided him gently so that the tip of his arousal was right at her entrance. Then she pushed down and engulfed him in one smooth move. Mulder gritted his teeth and stilled her hips with his hands before she could begin to wiggle. This sensation alone, simply being sheathed inside her body, was incredible.

"Scully, do I have any problems with being, er,
trigger happy, so to speak?"

She smiled. "Not usually. In fact, for the most part,
your stamina is incredible. Every once in awhile,
though, it will be like your trying to set some sort
of speed record. Why?"

"Because if you don't lie very, very still this is all going to be over before it's barely begun. You're so WET, Scully!"

"Mulder, you just got through telling me how much
you've loved me for years and years! What effect did
you expect it to have?"

He grinned up at her. "Hey, Scully, I thought you
didn't like activities that were messy," he thrust
gently into her, "and illogical" another thrust, "and
led to people losing control?"

She smiled down at him. She loved it when he teased
her. Mulder was often playful during lovemaking.
Scully whimpered, once, then attempted to give a
coherent answer. "Making love with you, Mulder, is
worth an exception to the rule!"

"Be still, Scully," he moaned. She had begun bouncing
on him and every movement was dragging him closer to
the edge.

"I. . .I can't, Mulder!" she whispered, with something like panic on her face. Mulder was amused and awed at the same time. Scully - his always-calm, ever-rational Scully - was like a wild thing, desperately seeking release as she writhed on top of him.

"Okay, baby," he murmured gently, brushing her hair
back from her forehead. "It's okay."

Scully abruptly stiffened above him, then let out a
little scream. Mulder wanted to simply savor the
moment -  the sight of Scully's passion-dazed face,
the sounds she was making and the feel of her internal muscles contracting around him - but it was too late. Her climax had triggered his own and he could feel himself gushing into her as he moaned out her name.

Scully collapsed on top of him and he stroked her
back, bottom and legs gently. Finally, she lifted her
head and smiled into his eyes. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Want me to move?'

"No, I like this. Is it okay, if I. . .explore a
little? I meant to spend more time on foreplay, I just got a bit overly excited."

"Mmm, it's fine, Mulder. I love it when you touch me.
Your hands are so big and so gentle."

"You're so beautiful," he whispered.

"Thank you," she murmured back.

Mulder let his hands wander up and down her back, her
shoulders, her arms, her bottom, her thighs. Brushing
his fingertips down her ribs elicited a giggle and he
grinned. So Scully was ticklish, huh? Good thing he
hadn't known that years ago, or he would have been in
big trouble. During the rare, playful moments they had shared - like that night in the Florida woods or the time he was teaching her to hit a baseball - the
temptation to tickle her probably would have been
overwhelming. Mine, he thought dreamily, and was
immediately astounded. He knew he had his problems,
but possessiveness and chauvinism weren't usually
among them. God, he hoped being married hadn't turned
him into the sort of Neanderthal pig he'd only
pretended to be when they were on the case in San
Diego!

"What's the matter, Mulder?"

"I just, um. . . ."

"You had that 'cave man' gleam in your eye for a
minute, but now you look sort of upset."

"Cave man, Scully?"

"That's what I call it when you do something sort of.
. .well, out-of-character for an upper middle class
Oxford grad kind of guy."

"Like what?"

"Usually it involves swooping me up into your arms and carrying me to the bedroom. Although since we're
already IN the bedroom, who knows what you've got in
mind at the moment."

"Am I to take it that you don't MIND that sort of
behavior, Scully? You usually fight me off whenever I
try to baby you!"

"That was. . .before. It's different now. We're
married. You've always treated me as a complete equal
professionally and I appreciate that. I know you
respect me.  But when we're home alone together I like to be. . . ," she faltered, as if searching for the right word.

"Seduced?" he suggested.

"Mmmhmm."

Mulder shifted so that she was on her back and he was
on his side. He kissed her long and slow and deep.
Moving his mouth to her ear, he gently outlined it
with his tongue and felt a surge of smug masculine
pride when she shivered and sighed. "I want to tease
you, Scully. And please you. And watch you come.
You're so damned beautiful when you lose control like
that!"

"Um, okay," she whispered.

Mulder lifted his face to look down into her eyes.
He'd moved one hand to her breasts and was gently
tweaking a nipple. Her breasts looked bigger now than
they had during the quick glimpses he'd gotten of them when he'd happened to see her naked a couple of times before they were married. "Which do you like better, when I use my mouth or my fingers?"

"I like both, but for right now I want you to use your fingers."

"Why?"

"Couple of reasons. First, when you use your mouth I
really prefer you do it as an appetizer rather than
dessert. Besides, you said you wanted to watch. You
can't see my face if you're down there!"

Mulder chuckled. Apparently, Scully's logical streak
occasionally exerted itself even during intimacy.
"Will you show me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Take my hand and guide it. Put my fingers where
they'll give you the most pleasure. Help me out here,
Scully."

Mulder watched as Scully blushed. Did she feel his
request was kinky? He supposed, in a way, it almost
was, but he really wanted her to do it.

"Okay," she agreed softly. She put her hand to his
face and slowly traced her fingers down his neck, his
shoulder, his arm until her fingers encountered his
own on her breasts.

Linking their fingers, she slowly drew his hand down
her stomach until he just grazed the top of her
cluster of red curls. Then she lifted her it slightly
away from her body and settled it back down near her
knees. Slowly - VERY slowly - she drew his fingers up
along her inner thighs. First one leg, then the other. As he reached the top of her thighs for the second time, she began flexing their fingers near her
entrance smiling at him as she wiggled. He was still
on his side and she hooked one of her legs over both
of his to give him better access to her body. Finally, she guided one of his fingers inside her.

They both moaned simultaneously. Mulder was hard again and his arousal was poking into Scully's hip. Scully lifted her hand away from his and placed it on his shoulder. "I think you can handle things on your own from this point, Mulder."

"Yeah," he breathed.

Mulder slipped a second finger into her, then a third. He bent his lips to hers, letting his tongue do to her mouth what his fingers were doing to a bit lower down. When he lifted his head he gave one last thrust with his fingers and sent her sailing over the edge.

As she drifted back to earth, Scully murmured, "Your
turn, Mulder. I want you on top this time."

"You sure, Scully? I don't want to hurt you. I mean,
you're so tiny!"

"I can handle it, Mulder! You've never, ever hurt me."

Mulder nodded and positioned himself between her legs. Ahh! This felt so good! He was able to last longer this time, although with Scully stroking his back and biceps and cooing endearments and admiration in his ear, his climax was just as powerful as the first one had been.

"I love you so much, Scully. If this is a dream, I
don't ever want to wake up!"

"It's no dream, Mulder. We're really here. I'm really
yours. You're really mine."

"You sound sleepy, Scully."

"I am. I usually get this way afterwards; you like to
tease me, because it's supposed to be men who conk out right after."

"I'm a bit tired myself," he yawned.

"Stay by me, Mulder. Don't get up and go downstairs."

"I won't, Dana. I promise I'll be right here when you
wake up."

Scully snuggled close to him and, within moments, she
was asleep again. Mulder was drowsy and content, but a couple of things were still nagging at his brain. He believed Scully when she told him they were married, but there were a few items that just didn't fit in with everything else. For instance, why had they furnished the entire house except for leaving that one room completely empty? And what was the purpose of that weird-looking dress in her closet? And, most confusing of all, why had she called him "Daddy" when talking to the dog? That just wasn't like her.  Mulder felt like he did when he had almost reached a breakthrough in one of his profiling caes. He knew he had all the pieces, he just hadn't put them together in the correct pattern yet. Oh, well, maybe it would come to him in his dreams.